TASHKENT: Uzbekistan has transferred to the United States seven Black Hawk helicopters that Afghan army pilots flew to the Central Asian state while fleeing the Taliban in 2021, according to diplomatic sources.

Kabul demanded the helicopters be sent back to Afghanistan, while US President Donald Trump has urged the Taliban to return American weapons to Washington.

The US invested billions of dollars in the Afghan army over two decades after it invaded the country and ousted the Taliban governmentfollowing the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

`We have recovered these seven helicopters, a source in the US embassy in Tashkent said.

The Voice of America had cited Pentagon officials as saying that Washington had in recent days retrieved out-of-service helicopters that Afghan army pilots fleeing the Taliban advance had flown to Uzbekistan in 2021.

The Central Asian state shares a short border with Afghanistan to its south.

Information in the Central Asian country is tightly controlled.-AFP